Avs looking to make best of 10th pick

Sakic: 'We'll go with the best player on our list'

The Avalanche also had the 10th-overall pick a year ago and used it on right wing Mikko Rantanen, shown here against the Wild on March 26. (Brent Lewis / The Denver Post)

The Colorado Avalanche is scheduled to select 10th in the first round of the NHL draft tonight in Buffalo, N.Y., and the goal is to have a repeat of 2015, when Colorado eagerly pounced on Finnish right winger Mikko Rantanen in the same slot.

"We always seem to get some surprises in the top 10 — just like we did last year that allowed us to get Rantanen — and I don't see anything different this year that's going to stop us to get a good player at 10," Alan Hepple, the Avs' second-year director of amateur scouting, said recently.

Possibilities among forwards at No. 10 are Alexander Nylander and Michael McLeod (both of the Mississauga Steelheads), Tyson Jost (Penticton Vees), Clayton Keller (U.S. National Team Development Program and committed to Boston University), Max Jones (London Knights) and Logan Brown (Windsor Spitfires).

"I don't think there's any goalie that would be in that top 10," Hepple said. "Somebody could prove me wrong, but I don't think so."

Said Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic: "We think we're going to get a good player at 10, and we're going to go with the best player on our list. This year it's forward-heavy."

After the first round tonight, the rest of the seven-round draft will be conducted Saturday at the First Niagara Center. Colorado's other picks are scheduled to be at Nos. 40, 71, 131, 161 and 191.

Advertisement

The Avalanche gave up its fourth-round draft pick for winger Shawn Matthias in March.

The most likely possibilities to be drafted from the University of Denver program are incoming forward Henrik Borgstrom and sophomore-to-be center Dylan Gambrell. Other Pioneers who might be drafted are sophomore defenseman Blake Hillman, and three incoming freshmen — Erich Fear, CJ Dodero and Kohen Olischefski.

Colorado deals goalie Berra to Florida

The Colorado Avalanche announced Thursday it has traded backup goaltender Reto Berra to Florida for forward Rocco Grimaldi.

In three seasons with Colorado, the 29-year-old Berra compiled a 10-13-2 record in 34 appearances with a 2.69 goals-against average and a 91.5 percent save percentage.

Grimaldi, 23, was the Panthers' second-round pick in the 2011 draft. The 5-foot-6, 180-pound forward appeared in 20 games, tallying three goals and two assists.

Boulder is pretty good at producing rock bands, and by "rock," we mean the in-your-face, guitar-heavy, leather-clad variety — you know, the good kind. For a prime example, look no farther than BANDITS. Full Story